Barnsley F.C. Season Review 2012/13

If Reds fans thought October was bad, it got even worse in November as Keith Hill’s side failed to win any of their six matches this month, losing four of them. It would prove to be Hill’s final full month in charge.

It kicked off with a dull 1-0 defeat at Hull City. A sole Sone Aluko goal after 16 minutes proved enough to condemn Barnsley to their fifth defeat on the road.

FT: Hull City (Aluko 16) 1-0 Barnsley. Attendance: 15,598.

Three days later The Reds travelled to Derby and suffered their first defeat at Pride Park in six years. Second half goals from James O’Connor and Nathan Tyson gave The Rams back to back victories in the league for the first time in eight months and sent Barnsley to a third successive defeat, the last two without scoring.

Speculation was rife all week that former captain Jacob Butterfield could be returning to Oakwell on loan, just four months after his protracted transfer to Norwich but instead the former Academy graduate opted for Bolton Wanderers, who at the time were also struggling in the Championship.

Alarm bells really started ringing when Barnsley slipped to a fourth consecutive defeat for the first time that season, and even more alarmingly, a third in a row without scoring at home to Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town. The Terriers had started their first season in the second tier for 13 years in fine form and had earlier in the week pipped The Reds to the loan signing of Reading striker Simon Church. He started but it was his striker partner Jermaine Beckford who grabbed the only goal after 36 minutes to hand Barnsley their worst home start to a season for eight years. The win moved Huddersfield into the top six but left Barnsley just two points above the drop zone and with their lowest points total after 16 games for seven years.

FT:Barnsley 0-1 Huddersfield (Beckford 36). Attendance: 12,130.

After missing out on Church, The Reds managed to land Nottingham Forest’s Marcus Tudgay on loan until January with a view to a permanent move, whilst John Stones won his second international cap after appearing for the England Under 19’s in their 1-0 victory over Finland.

Back home Tudgay started as The Reds ended their losing run and picked up their first away draw of the season at the Reebok Stadium. Butterfield made his Trotters debut and watched Kevin Davies give the home side a first half lead. A fine finish from Craig Davies in the 65th minute- his first goal since the four he hit at Birmingham, gave Barnsley their first goal in four games and first point in five.

Keith Hill moved to bolster his flagging side by making a triple move in the loan market. In came Emile Sinclair from Peterborough, Jonathan Greening from Nottingham Forest and Akos Buzsaky from Portsmouth.

Greening started, with Sinclair and Buzsaky coming off the bench for the visit of second place Cardiff but they could not prevent a fifth defeat in six as the Welsh side hit top spot. Ben Nugent and Aron Gunnarsson gave Cardiff a commanding lead and although Jacob Mellis pulled one back with 14 minutes to go and Cardiff went down to 10 men with two minutes to play, The Reds could not find an equaliser and slumped to a third home defeat in a row. It also extended their winless home run to seven matches- the worst run for 23 years.

Barnsley ended a wretched month with a home draw with Burnley. Charlie Austin bagged his 21st goal in 21 appearances after just five minutes but Marcus Tudgay grabbed his first goal for The Reds 22 minutes later to land a share of the spoils. But The Reds had now gone eight home matches without victory for the first time since 1989.

FT: Barnsley 1 (Tudgay 37) Burnley 1 (Austin 5). Attendance: 8,610.

November League Record: Played 6; Won 0; Drawn 2; Lost 4; For 3; Against 8; GD -5; Points 2.